Organize Your Summer Bucket List Ideas & Get Rolling in 15 Minutes!

How to whip your summer into shape? Organize your summer bucket list ideas in 15 minutes (or less) from https://smartkids101.com

As the great philosophers Phineas and Ferb would say, “There’s 104 days of summer vacation, ’til school comes along just to end it…”

School is officially out around these parts, and I’m already itching for some easy summer bucket list ideas to keep my kids having fun and maybe learning a thing or two.

But my Pinterest boards would tell me: I have lots of ideas — actually getting something done? That’s another thing entirely. I imagine that without a plan, we could easily default to watching back-to-back episodes on PBS Kids. While my kids would probably scramble at the opportunity to binge on Peg+Cat (love that show!), it’s not exactly the type of summer fun that I’m imagining.

Maybe you’re a little like this, too? Don’t want the time to get away from you? And looking for some easy summer ideas for kids that will also help YOU keep your sanity?

Well, you better sit down because I’m about to make your summer bucket list ideas much easier to implement with a little organization.


My Top 7 Ways to Get Your Summer Bucket List Rolling

Here’s how I did it:

1. Get a calendar, some mini sticky notes, and a permanent marker.

Step 1 to an awesome summer: get your supplies. It's time to organize. https://smartkids101.com

We’re about to teach these Summer Activities a lesson in organization! (I found a big desk calendar on clearance for $2! Woot. Wait, do we say ‘woot’ anymore?) Write in the important dates like when school starts, when your family will be on vacation, when camps are, when VBS happens, etc.


2. Do a quick count of the number of weekdays you have left to fill.

Here me out here: I do not want to become Cruise Director for my kids’ summer activities. In fact, I imagine they will fill many summer hours thinking up their own fun. But I do want to be intentional to set aside some daily summer vacation fun time to make it special and memorable. Some days, it might be all-day, like a trip to the zoo. Other days it might just be simpler outdoor activities like sidewalk chalk.


3. Now that you’ve got a rough count of how many activities you need, brainstorm your summer bucket list ideas.

Write out all your summer bucket list ideas on sticky notes. https://smartkids101.com

You can check out our Pinterest boards for outdoor activities, summer crafts, science experiments for kids, and other summer fun. And remember all those times you think, “Oh, that would be fun for the kids to do this summer…”? Write those down, too!


4. Put the activities into (roughly) 5 categories.

Step 4 to an awesome summer is to categorize your summer bucket list ideas. Color coding optional, strongly encouraged. :) Find out the other steps at https://smartkids101.com

The ones that I used were: Playdates (a summer fun goal for this introvert mama), Big Outings (museum/pottery painting/bowling), Easy At-Home Fun, Medium-Commitment Activities (for us, this would be like Movie Night or Washing the Car) and Weekly Routines (for example, we do “Bible Study and Sonic day” or “Library and Shopping Day”). You may see your own organization categories that will make sense for your family’s summer activities — go with it!


5. Color coding. Nerd alert. I can’t help myself!

Write each type of summer vacation ideas on a different-colored sticky note. It makes it really easy to be sure you’re not doing too many of the same type of outing in one week… because what Mom is brave enough to do Zoo/Museum/Bowling/Mini Golf/Movie Theatre week? Not me.


6. At this point you can go a couple different ways… Choose Your Own Adventure!

(a) This is the traditional “summer bucket list ideas” route. Put all your sticky notes on a poster board (portable) or the wall (not portable) and have the kids remove each sticky note as you complete them during this summer vacation. The idea is to clear off all the sticky notes by the end of the summer, signifying the amazing summer fun you’ve had (and how you’re really ready to get back to school now).

(b) This is what I opted to do. To make sure our summer activities were all spread out nicely, I went ahead and put a sticky note in each block of the calendar, like so:

Step 6, start putting the sticky notes into a giant calendar. Then have an awesome summer! https://smartkids101.com

The cool thing about this is that because of the sticky notes, we’re still super-flexible. Get invited to play with a friend on Tuesday but you had it scheduled for Friday? No problem! Just switch those two sticky notes to swap those two summer fun activities! Easy peasy? Easy peasy.

(c) Pick neither of the above options and your kids get really bored. After all, there are “104 days of summer vacation” to fill. Being the clever, Smart Kids they are, they decide to help a friend build a portal to Mars in his garage for his summer science fair project. Unfortunately, your daughter gets zapped into the portal right as it breaks. The Martians are pretty odd, but they decide to make her queen, until your other two children fix the portal and rescue her. That makes the martians mad, but they escape just in time. Also, your pet platypus is a secret agent. But don’t tell anyone I told you.


7. Have a Rockin’ Summer.

You know you will! Try to enjoy it — even the moments that make you crazy — because there won’t be many summers with them home. Sob.

So here’s to summer activities and summer sanity. And organization. And color coding. Cheers!

(Linked up at Project Inspire{d} and Fabulously Frugal ThursdaysΒ and the Summer Family Fun Series)


READ NEXT: 6 Easy Ways to Keep Your Kids Safe This Summer

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About Aubrey Hunt
Before hopping on the crazy ride we call motherhood, I studied engineering and taught math and science to middle and high school students. Now, perhaps like you, I fill my days singing The Itsy Bitsy Spider and praying my preschooler will eat a vegetable β€” any vegetable!

16 thoughts on “Organize Your Summer Bucket List Ideas & Get Rolling in 15 Minutes!”

  1. Fab post Aubrey – really like your approach!

    1. Aubrey Hunt says:

      Thanks! Same to ya. πŸ™‚

  2. Karren Haller says:

    Fantastic way to organize, love how you used the sticky notes before making your board.
    Thanks for stopping by Oh My Heartsie Girl WW this week.
    Now following you on Pinterest and Twitter
    Enjoy your day!

    1. Aubrey Hunt says:

      Thanks, Karren! I think I accidentally linked up to your Wednesday instead of Monday… oops! Either way, thanks for stopping by and reading. πŸ™‚ And thanks for the Pinterest and Twitter follows. See you on social media!

  3. Helen Fern says:

    What great ideas – I’ll be pinning this post!

    1. Aubrey Hunt says:

      Thanks for stopping by!

  4. April says:

    I desperately need an organizing calendar, but I have yet to know which one will work for me. I’ll check clearance, because if nothing else, this will be perfect to help my daughter learn the days of the week! Love your ideas. I’m so ready to get on the summer bucket list! Thanks for sharing with Creative Style!

    1. Aubrey Hunt says:

      I bet checking clearance or finding free printables on Pinterest could be a cheap way for you to try out several types of calendars and see what works for you! We’re trying to learn the days of the week, too, and I find it to be helpful! πŸ™‚ Thanks for stopping by and commenting, April!

  5. Wynter says:

    Love this! Right up with my type-A, running the household like a champ mom personality! Thank you so much for linking up at Made to Mother this week!

    1. Aubrey Hunt says:

      Thanks for hosting the link up and stopping by to comment! Glad you can relate. Fist bump. πŸ™‚

  6. Love this! And yes, I’m a post-it Sharpie nerd, too.

    I’d love for you to share your post at my Summer Family Fun party. I’m hosting it with 14 other bloggers every Wednesday June 18th to July 30th.

    1. Aubrey Hunt says:

      Oh boy! Thanks for the invite. I just linked up and will have fun looking at others’ summer fun ideas. From one Post-it/Sharpie nerd to another, thanks for stopping by!

  7. Love it!!! Plus, I love the use of sticky notes so that if things need to be changed up…it’s an easy fix.

    Thanks for sharing your great summer ideas with us at Project Inspire{d}!

    1. Aubrey Hunt says:

      You’re welcome; thanks for hosting the great link up! The Post-its have been a lifesaver. I’ve already done SO much switching around! Haha.

  8. Linda says:

    sharpies and post-it notes – 2 of my favorite things!!! and what a great way to use them. love this – I’m sitting down for a planning session to be sure we fit in all we need to the rest of the summer. Thank you!

    1. Aubrey Hunt says:

      So glad you found it useful! Thanks for stopping by!

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